Pau Gasol found himself on the bench for the fourth quarter of Friday’s loss to the Grizzlies, thanks to a lethargic and uninspired effort that was evident to anyone who was watching. He complained about his lack of post touches afterward, and talked about how getting those touches would help him get into a rhythm where he’d be able to be more productive.

Gasol got those touches in Saturday’s destruction of the Mavericks, and indeed looked to be more energetic and engaged during his 13-point, nine-rebound performance. But if there are nights when Gasol doesn’t seem to be himself moving forward, we now know the reason may be due to something other than pouting over where he receives the ball.

Gasol was very active in the first quarter. He drilled a mid-range jumper, scored down low and hit a running left-handed hook shot over Chris Kaman.

He also had a revelation after the game. He has been battling knee tendinitis for over a month.

“It’s something that has been lingering since this preseason. I’ve been dealing with it the best I can,” he said.

The good news is that Gasol hasn’t missed practice or game time with the condition, so at this point, it isn’t too much of a cause for concern. What will help is keeping his minutes down, which is obviously much easier to do if the Lakers are rolling their opponents as they did Saturday night in Dallas.

I used to play about 10-20 hours of tennis a week. I was given a brace and told to wear it and let my knee rest for six months, but I was so addicted to playing I decided to play with the brace after a few weeks. I could still play with reduced mobility. The tendinitis took about a year to fully heal, but I was 24-25 at the time. At 32 and with his weight I would think it could be a chronic condition unless he were to sit out a year. Not sure if PT helps since the prescription calls for resting it.

The Lakers need to move Pau over to the 6, that is make him a 6th man. He ought to be playing center on the BenchBunch and roll Jameson or Hill out as a starting 4 depending on who they play. The 2nd team could really use Pau’s leadership, passing and scoring. That would cut his minutes back and give the bench some punch. The Lakers need to do that regardless, since Pau is actually lousy at 3’s.